Kiss From A Rose
by Haunted Leopard
Summary: Steve x Female OC Oneshot Summary: After Peggy's death, Steve hasn't been quite the same. The world seemed rather... grey. However, things seemed to change when Marissa Foley became a new Avenger. Slowly, she starts to bring Steve back into the world to help him heal. A Fanfic challenge for star-spangled-man-with-a-plan's 90's playlist on tumblr. Modified to fit the guidelines


Ever since Peggy Carter's death, Steve had not been feeling the same. His world seemed to turn grey, the colors slowly fading away into a never ending fog. Of course Steve knew that he couldn't have been with Peggy, but she was his first love after all and having been able to at least spend time with her was something. However, as life would have it, Steve would not get to have that happiness for too long. Oh no, Fate wasn't done with him quite yet. Steve only had one choice - to soldier on. And that's exactly what he did. Steve did his best to hide away the pain and suffering he was going through as he helped the Avengers out, but the others knew he was suffering hard. Tony noticed this the most. He noticed how Steve just went through the motions of the day - workout, eat, read the newspaper, hangout with someone, lunch, either workout some more or take a walk, dinner and then disappear for night unless Natasha dragged him down for a movie night. Everyone saw this but no one knew how to fix it. And the worst part of it? Steve no longer drew. Eventually, Steve just stopped faking emotions and just held a poker face. The most emotion that anyone saw Steve show was when he was out on a mission.

One day, that all started to change. Steve was in the meeting room with the Avengers. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and the constant poker face everyone had adjusted to. His baby blue eyes, which had dulled since that fateful day, looked around and noticed that Tony was missing. The meeting should have start ten minutes ago and while Tony was known for being late, he usually arrived no later than ten minutes after the initial start time. Steve would have been annoyed with how late Tony was being but this time it was different - no one knew what the meeting was about. Letting out a soft sigh, Steve lets his head fall back, a light thump against the wall which signified that his head had went as far as it could. He only moved his head again when the doors opened again and revealed Tony... And an unknown woman. Steve stood upright as his breath was taken away. The woman had long blonde hair and beautiful dark blue eyes. The woman wore a white tank top with a rose colored dress shirt open over it, simple jeans and white sandals. _A light hits the gloom_ with this woman's presence for Steve. Colors were slowly starting to return.

"Sorry for being overly late everyone! I had to go pick up our newest addition to the team! This is Marissa Foley," Tony says, gesturing to the woman next to him.

"Hello. It's an honor to meet all of you. I'm not much of a fighter, but I will be with you on missions to help heal you guys," Marissa says, a soft smile on her lips.

"A healer huh? That would make missions easier. I'm Natasha by the way. I'll help teach you how to shoot a gun so you can defend yourself better," Nat says, smirking lightly.

"Ah, alright. I was never that good with a gun. I appreciate it," Marissa says gratefully.

"And in case you don't know the rest, here we have Clint Barton, Thor, Doctor Bruce Banner and then Steve Rogers," Tony says, clasping a gentle hand on her shoulder. As he introduced the rest of the team, Tony had gestured with his hand at each member, Steve snapping out of his thoughts when his name was said. Steve gave a small, but genuine smile to Marissa, which didn't go unnoticed by the others. The tension seemed to melt away at seeing that genuine smile upon the grieving super soldier's face.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am," Steve greets. Marissa couldn't help but giggle softly.

"You as well Captain Rogers," Marissa says. After introductions were done, everyone took a seat at the meeting table to discuss upcoming missions and who was being assigned to where. It would be a little bit before Marissa would get to go on one since she still needed Nat to train her in using a gun. Marissa understood as she didn't want to cause more trouble or worry for anyone because she couldn't defend herself.

It would be a month later when Marissa would be sent on her first mission. As Marissa adjusted to life with the Avengers, she became close friends with Nat and Tony. Between learning how to properly shoot, how to shoot well enough for a mission and healing everybody when they needed it, she tried her best to befriend the rest. She was making a surprising amount of progress with Steve, whom she expected to be the hardest to befriend. Tony was the first to notice how much of an impact Marissa was making on Steve. Sure, Steve wasn't _quite_ back to normal but he was on the way there. He knew that in order to help Steve continue to heal, Marissa's first mission should be with Steve, and he proposed this to the others, except to Steve and Marissa. Everyone agreed that would be the best thing. When Nat decreed Marissa ready to be sent on a mission, Tony called in everyone. He watches as everyone filed in, mostly paying attention to Steve's reactions. Steve was the first to arrive, the poker face there as per usual which melted away to a small, warm smile when Marissa entered the room. The baby blue eyes also lit up upon seeing her.

"Alright! Now that everyone is here! We have enough intel to send people out on missions. And not only that, but Marissa will be going on her first mission. Yay," Tony starts out, the yay not too enthusiastic.

"Sweet! Now I don't have to be cooped up in boring tower all alone," Marissa grins, her tone playful. Nat snorted.

"Anywayss... Capsicle! You and Marissa are going on a mission together! Apparently Legolas found out a location of another HYDRA base during his last mission," Tony says. Agent Maria Hill walked in as Tony assigned the mission.

"I'm surprised to hear you assign missions, Tony. Usually that's my job. But I do believe that Captain Rogers and Miss Foley would be best suited for this mission," Maria says, teasing Tony. Tony just huffs indignantly at the comment.

"Alright, works with me," Steve says. He was actually happy that he would be paired with Marissa for her first mission. Part of it was because he felt he needed to protect her while the other part was how colorful his life was whenever she was around. He noticed that today Marissa wore rose earrings in her ear and couldn't help but smile at seeing the roses.

"Good. There's a quinjet ready for you two in the hangar, coordinates already in place. You're to find any valuable information they have and take out any agents that you come across. You are dismissed," Maria tells the two. Steve and Marissa nod and head out of the meeting room. Steve gently grabs her arm once outside.

"Yes Steve?" Marissa asks, looking up at the blonde man.

"Remember, this won't be easy and this will be very dangerous. Keep a sharp lookout," Steve says, wanting Marissa to be safe.

"Of course. Meet you in the quinjet in ten?" Marissa suggests. Steve nodded and lets go of her arm. The two split and head to their rooms to get ready for the mission. Steve was the first to arrive by the quinjet and he waits for Marissa to arrive. When she does, Steve couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked. Marissa wore a dark grey turtleneck with matching dark grey jeans and combat boots. Around her waist was a rose colored sash, some roses embroidered on it. Her rose earrings were still in her ears. It was a simplistic yet effective outfit but still made her look beautiful. He figured the sash was to help Steve not mistaken her for an enemy should they have to fight, not that he needed it.

"Ready to go?" Steve asks. Marissa nods and the two step into the quinjet. It was a long and quiet flight to the location. However, it was not an awkward silence. Steve was trying to focus his thoughts as he usually did when on missions and Marissa was calming her nerves. This was her first mission after all and she'd be damned if she caused it to go wrong. After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived and Steve set the quinjet down and out of sight of the base. The duo exits the quinjet and carefully yet quickly make their way over to the base, Steve taking out any patrolling agents quietly. Marissa carefully tries the side door they had found.

"Damn. Locked. Not that I figured it would be THAT easy," Marissa huffed. Steve chuckled softly.

"No. It wouldn't be. However, that window is open. If I boost you up, think you could get through it and unlock from the inside?" Steve suggests.

"Yeah, I can fit through there. Might have to toss me up but I can get through it," Marissa answers after a moment of looking at the window. Steve goes under the window and bends his knees, his hands cupped so Marissa could put her foot down. The blonde woman runs towards Steve and plants her foot firmly on Steve's cupped hands. Pushing up with his arms and legs, Steve tosses Marissa up towards the open window. She grabs onto the ledge and hoists herself through. She drops and lands, making a disturbed chain noise. She pokes her head out the window and gives Steve a thumbs up. Marissa had landed on a runway. She notices the room being large and open - like a place for storing large objects such as planes. Not wanting to keep Steve waiting, she quietly but hurriedly heads down the stairs nearby and scurries over to the door. A few moments later, Marissa opens the door and lets Steve inside.

"Stay close to me, alright?" Steve says quietly. Marissa nods before following the super soldier. The two make their way through the base, Steve taking care of the agents they pass so that Marissa wouldn't have to use her gun. Marissa was the one who had to go through small areas when a door was locked and they didn't have the correct key to get it open. When reaching the final room, the room that had to have had all of the information, Marissa produced a key she had nabbed off of a sleeping guard and held it up to Steve. He was impressed that she had the key but let her unlock the door. Both enter cautiously, making sure no traps went set off. Relieved that no traps went off, Steve let Marissa handle the computer since she was far superior using technology than he was. Steve kept a look out and when Marissa had finished, they headed out, only for an alarm to sound off.

"Shit! the computer must have been rigged to set off the alarm! I thought this was too easy!" Marissa scowled as she ran with Steve towards the exit. There was no use for subtly now. As they plowed through the HYDRA agents they had avoided, Steve had a few cuts here and there from bullets that just grazed past him. Marissa was fine as she was behind Steve and the super soldier refused to let her get hurt at all, even if it meant risking a bullet to be lodged somewhere. It was only once outside and by the quinjet that a major injury struck. Steve had gotten shot in the calf as he got onto the ramp. Marissa, who was already in the quinjet, grabbed Steve's arm and tugged with all her might, dragging Steve into the quinjet. Slamming the button to get the ramp closed and listening to Steve's instructions to get the quinjet going, Marissa puts the quinjet on autopilot and rushes over to Steve, who had hoisted himself into a seat.

"I'm fine Marissa.. No need to look so worried," Steve says. Marissa just fixes him with a sharp glare.

"You got shot in the leg. Now shush and let me heal you," Marissa commands, leaving no room for argument. Her dark blue eyes close and her hands glow a gentle rose-pink. Reaching her hands out towards Steve, rose petals start to flow from her hands and they land on all of the cuts. Steve watches in amazement as the petals seemingly melt into his skin, the sensation of _a kiss from a rose_ lingering there. The look on Marissa's face intensifies as her hands hover over his leg. The rose petals swirl around the gun shot wound as a vine slowly goes towards the bullet, carefully extracting the bullet. Steve was prepared to feel pain as the bullet was removed but he felt none. He assumed it was the rose petals. Peaking at his calf, Steve watches as a flurry of rose petals go to the wound to stop the bleeding and slowly patch up the hole. Marissa opens her eyes when she finishes.

"Thank you," Steve says with a smile. Marissa nods and she relaxes on the floor, a little tired now that the adrenaline was wearing off. They sat in comfortable silence all the way back to base, both thinking the mission went well.

It would be two months later from Marissa's mission with Steve when Steve's world was bright with color once more. The two became close friends and Steve's suffering from the loss of Peggy slowly ebbed away. Everyone noticed that Steve had started to act like Steve and not some hollowed puppet with Steve's face. Steve was slowly working up the courage to ask Marissa to be his girlfriend. After all, she was the one who helped him heal and made him feel alive again. It was a Friday night and Tony had decided to throw a casual party with just the Avengers and a few of their friends. When he arrived, Steve scans the room for Marissa and finds her at the little bar, a drink in hand and talking to Natasha. He makes his way over and smiles at the two females, giving them a greeting.

"Oh hey Steve! Glad you actually came," Natasha says. "Beer?"

"Yeah, a beer please," Steve says. He looks at Marissa. Tonight she was wearing a rose tank top, the rose earrings she wore on their first mission and black shorts. No shoes were on her feet which did not surprise him as Steve had quickly come to learn that Marissa only wore shoes when absolutely necessary.

"Here you go. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure Tony isn't being an outright ass," Nat says, giving a knowing look towards Marissa, who held back a blush. She turns to face Steve completely and that's when Steve spotted the rose colored lipstick.

"You really like the color of roses, don't you?" Steve asks, slightly amused.

"Yeah, it's my favorite color. My powers didn't help that," Marissa chuckled. She takes a sip of her drink. "How are you tonight?"

"I'm doing well. The best in a long time, if I'm being honest. Will you join me on the balcony? I have a question I want to ask in private," Steve says. Marissa nods and she hops off the bar stool, downing her drink before following Steve out to the balcony. Leaning her side against the railing, she looks at Steve who was facing forward. When the super soldier turned his head to face her, baby blue eyes locked with dark blue ones.

"So what's on your mind?" Marissa asks. Steve takes a deep breath.

"Marissa, first and foremost, I want to thank you. _You became the light on the dark side of me_ , and helped to pull me out of that dark place. You brought color to my life and as we became friends, my feelings began to grow for you. And so, I was wondering, would do me the honor being my girlfriend?" Steve says, not breaking eye contact. Marissa was surprised but a happy smile appears on her rose colored lips.

"Of course Steve. I would absolutely love that," Marissa grins. Steve smiles even more and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a hug which she reciprocates. Marissa looks up at Steve and leans up to close the gap and presses a gentle kiss to Steve, her eyes closing. Steve closes his eyes and returns the kiss, enjoying the _kiss from a rose_ , well his rose.


End file.
